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This Is the Most Common Mistake That Breaks Up 2-Career Couples, According to a 6-Year Study
Imagine this: you are two ambitious members of a couple with demanding, interesting jobs and you face a major life decision together. Maybe you’re expecting a child, blending your families, or making a move to establish a household together for the first time. How do you go about discussing how you will divide responsibilities and make sacrifices to make the new arrangement work?
If you’re like most two-career couples without unlimited bank accounts, you start with the practicalities. How much does childcare cost? Where is housing more affordable? Who has the higher salary, more scope for career growth, or opportunity for a flexible schedule?
You look at these nuts and bolts questions and then you sit down, hammer out a plan, and hope for the best. It sounds sensible, and talking about logistics is certainly an essential part of family life, but according to INSEAD professor Jennifer Petriglieri, this is exactly the wrong way to go about making major joint decisions.
Life isn’t all about practicalities.
Petriglieri speaks from experience. Half of a dual-career partnership herself, she also studied more than 100 ambitious couples in-depth for six years for her book, Couples That Work. The…
